Lately, it kind of feels like every vegesaurus I know has stepped things up a notch to become a vegan (‘what do you mean we can’t abuse Spur’s 2 for 1 special anymore?!’) so I’ve got friends asking things like ‘can you recommend any good vegan-friendly cosmetics lines?’ In this case, I usually just direct them over here as it’s the biggest list I’ve found online. Just bear in mind that it’s not definitive; only a handful of the listed brands are available in South Africa and it doesn’t list brands that offer vegan items (for example, Lush isn’t a vegan brand, but 80% of its products are).

Anyway, another vegan brand that’s not on the list (told you! It’s not definitive!) is Organique Cosmetics, a natural cosmetics line that hails from Poland and is now stocked locally at EcoStore Online. I was given a bunch of samples to try and rather liked this the Pumpkin Ultra Hydrating cream (R365).

It’s good to know it’s also free of parabens and SLS, if that’s important to you.

As I’m an oily-combo girl I had to trial this at night but if you’ve got a drier skin type it would make a nice daily moisturiser provided you invest in a good sunscreen to layer on top of it. I liked that its packaged in a pump-bottle to protect it’s ingredients’ integrity and that it doesn’t make any crazy claims. It literally exists to hydrate dry skin and does a nice job of exactly that thanks to a moisturising mix of glycerin, essential fatty acid-rich avocado oil and the water-binding super star that is hyaluronic acid.

This seal belongs to vegan-charity ‘Viva!’ You can learn more about them here.

As far as the pumpkin bit goes, Organique reckons pumpkin extract is a good source of vitamins, minerals and amino acids and serves up a gentle enzymatic exfoliating action, but I wouldn’t rely on this for the latter.

I kind of expected this to be a body butter but it’s not – it’s a regte balm that makes me think of potted lip balms like Nuxe’s Reve de Miel or Arden’s Eight Hour Cream – but with a much more ‘melty’ texture that’s almost like Vaseline but it’s one hundred-percent Vaseline-free.

If you’ve got super dry skin you could rub it all over your body but I like to use it on bits like cuticles, lips, elbows, knees and heels. Thanks to the beeswax, it does a great job of sealing in any newfound hydration.

While it’s supposed to smell like Grapefruit & Linen, I couldn’t pick up either of these notes which was slightly disappointing as I love citrusy, clean scents, but it does have a soft, floral fragrance that reminds me of something from my childhood, but I can’t put my finger on it.

Still, I’m sure I’ll eventually figure it out – a little goes a long way to the point that I’m sure this tub will see me through until 2017, making it very good value as well as a great gift for any tricky-to-buy-for vegan besties.

Hey babe, South Africans should use the human guide by Beauty Without Cruelty here: http://www.humaneguide.co.za/ All products are veg / vegan and most definitely cruelty free. I’ll share your link with the BWC organisers and ask them to investigate Organique to see if it meets the cruelty-free requirements. Would be lovely to add them to the list and give their products a try 🙂 xx